Queen of the Sea | |
---|---|
Directed by | John G. Adolfi |
Screenplay by | John G. Adolfi |
Story by | George Bronson Howard |
Produced by | William Fox |
Starring |
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Cinematography | |
Distributed by | Fox Film Corporation |
Release date |
|
Running time | 5 reels |
Country | United States |
Language | Silent (English intertitles) |
Queen of the Sea is a 1918 American silent fantasy film released by Fox Film Corporation that was directed by John G. Adolfi and starred Australian swimmer Annette Kellerman. This film is presumed to be lost. [1]
As described in the trade magazine Exhibitors Herald :
Merilla, Queen of the Sea, finds a book among wreckage at the bottom of the sea which contains a prophesy that she will save four human beings and then receive the reward of a human body of her own with an immortal soul. King Boreas (Law), master of the storms, wrecks many ships and sends his sirens to drag the victims to certain death. Merilla saves the predicted lives, and Boreas confines her in a cave. She is freed by Prince Hero, the fourth life she has saved, who is on his way to meet his betrothed. They fall in love with each other, but Ariela tells them that they must be unselfish. The Prince goes on to meet the Princess, who is really in love with one of her courtiers. Boreas captures the Princess and confines her in the Tower of Knives and Swords, a worse dungeon than the one in which Merilla had been confined. Merilla has received a human body and such a beautiful soul that she resolves to rescue the Princess, even though this will mean the loss of the Prince. She goes to the Tower and reaches the Princess, encourages her, and then walks out on a spider's thread to a point where she can warn the Prince of the great danger. He and his knights come just in time to save them from a horrible fate. The Princess confesses her love for the courtier, and the two couples are then happy in possession of each other. [2]
Queen of the Sea followed Fox's big budget picture A Daughter of the Gods , another fantasy spectacle designed around Annette Kellerman and her aquatic abilities. Kellerman was well known for stunt dives; at least one high dive was incorporated in the plot of Queen as well as a tight-rope walk, both executed by Kellerman herself. [3] After Queen of the Sea Kellerman would only make two more major motion pictures. [4]
Cast and crew spent two months in 1917 filming on Mount Desert Island in Maine; [5] additional exterior shots were filmed in Bermuda, Jamaica, Florida, Mexico, and California. [6]
Panchromatic film, which provided superior tonal quality but had a problematically short shelf life, was first used in motion pictures for some of the exterior shots on Queen of the Sea. [7]
Annette Marie Sarah Kellermann was an Australian professional swimmer, vaudeville star, film actress, and writer, usually known as Annette Kellerman.
Herbert Brenon was an Irish-born U.S. film director, actor and screenwriter during the era of silent films through 1940.
Salomé is a 1918 American silent drama film produced by William Fox and starring actress Theda Bara.
Cleopatra is a 1917 American silent historical drama film based on H. Rider Haggard's 1889 novel Cleopatra, the 1890 play Cleopatre by Émile Moreau and Victorien Sardou, and the play Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare. The film starred Theda Bara in the title role, Fritz Leiber Sr. as Julius Caesar, and Thurston Hall as Mark Antony.
The Volga Boatman is a 1926 American silent drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille, who reportedly said the film was, "his greatest achievement in picture making". The film's budget was $479,000 and it grossed $1.27 million. The film was highly successful, turning William Boyd into matinee idol overnight. The filming location was Wood Island, near Rio Vista, California, in 1925.
A Daughter of the Gods is a 1916 American silent fantasy drama film written and directed by Herbert Brenon. The film was controversial because of the sequences of what was regarded as superfluous nudity by the character Anitia, played by Australian swimming star Annette Kellermann. The scene is regarded as the first complete nude scene by a major star, which occurred during a waterfall sequence, though most of Kellerman's body is covered by her long hair. It was filmed by Fox Film Corporation in Kingston, Jamaica, where huge sets were constructed, and directed by Herbert Brenon.
Million Dollar Mermaid is a 1952 American biographical drama film about the life of Australian swimming star Annette Kellerman. It was directed by Mervyn LeRoy and produced by Arthur Hornblow Jr. from a screenplay by Everett Freeman. The music score was by Adolph Deutsch, the cinematography by George Folsey and the choreography by Busby Berkeley.
Wild Women is a 1918 American silent Western comedy film directed by John Ford and featuring Harry Carey. The film is considered to be lost.
The Man From Home is a 1922 British drama film directed by George Fitzmaurice, adapted from a play of the same name by Booth Tarkington and Harry Leon Wilson. The story had been filmed before in 1914 by Cecil B. DeMille as The Man From Home. Alfred Hitchcock was credited as a title designer on the 1922 production. The film survives in Netherlands Filmmuseum Amsterdam. It was shown publicly in September 2015, possibly for the first time since the 1920s, during the British Silent Film Festival at Leicester.
Neptune's Daughter is a 1914 American silent fantasy film featuring the first collaboration between actress Annette Kellerman and director Herbert Brenon. It was based on Kellerman's idea of "a water fantasy movie with beautiful mermaids in King Neptune's garden together with a good love story." It was filmed by Universal in Bermuda during January and February, cost approximately $50,000, and grossed one million dollars at the box office.
The She-Devil is a 1918 American silent romantic drama film directed by J. Gordon Edwards and starring Theda Bara. This was the last film in which Alan Roscoe starred with Theda Bara; they appeared in six films together starting with Camille.
Cleopatra is a 1912 American silent historical drama film starring Helen Gardner in the title role and directed by Charles L. Gaskill, based on an 1890 play written by Victorien Sardou. It is the first film to be produced by The Helen Gardner Picture Players.
Powers That Prey is a 1918 silent comedy-drama film directed by Henry King and starring Mary Miles Minter, with whom King stated that he enjoyed working. The film is based on a story called Extra! Extra! by Will M. Ritchey, which was also the working title of the film. As with many of Minter's features, it is thought to be a lost film.
The Prussian Cur is a 1918 American anti-German silent propaganda film produced during World War I. Now considered a lost film, it is notable for telling the story of the Crucified Soldier.
A Kiss for Cinderella is a 1925 American silent fantasy film taken from the 1916 stage play by James M. Barrie. The film stars Betty Bronson and Tom Moore and was made at Paramount's Astoria Studios in Astoria, Queens. The play had starred stage actress Maude Adams in the Bronson role.
A Doll's House is a 1918 American silent drama film produced by Famous Players–Lasky and distributed by Artcraft Pictures, an affiliate of Paramount Pictures. It is the third American motion picture filming of Henrik Ibsen's 1879 play A Doll's House. Maurice Tourneur directed and Elsie Ferguson starred. This film is lost.
Below the Surface is a surviving 1920 American silent drama film directed by Irvin Willat and starring Hobart Bosworth. Thomas H. Ince produced the picture with distribution through Paramount Pictures.
The Strange Adventures of Prince Courageous, also known as The Adventures of Prince Courageous, is a 1923 American silent fantasy film series starring Bessie Love and five-year-old Arthur Trimble, directed by Frederick G. Becker.
The New Moon is a 1919 silent film adventure drama directed by Chester Withey and produced by and starring Norma Talmadge, with Pedro de Cordoba and Charles K. Gerrard.
Pearl Doles Bell was an American novelist, film scenarist, radio script writer, and editor. During her career, she published eight novels and had numerous stories adapted into silent films. She was especially known for writing film stories for silent film star Shirley Mason.